Golden – Gilberto Cruz will stand trial in the Oct. 4 close-range shooting death of his girlfriend, who had refused to reconcile with him.
Amanda Jean Duran, 22, of Edgewater, was killed after Cruz allegedly chased her to a neighbor’s house where she pounded on the door pleading for help.
Police said Friday in a preliminary hearing in Jefferson County court that Cruz fired a 12-gauge shotgun into the back of her head from 2 feet away.
Cruz, who has been charged with first-degree murder after deliberation and possession of an illegal weapon, is being held without bail in the Jefferson County Jail.
Edgewater police investigator Mark Hamilton said the shotgun was found in the street under a car. Duran’s body was in a pool of blood between the inner and outer doors of a neighbor’s house in the 2000 block of Otis Street.
About a month and a half before the shooting, Duran, who had multiple sclerosis, decided to abort Cruz’s baby because she was concerned about the safety of her pregnancy, police said.
Cruz, who initially gave his name as Eduardo Espinosa- Martinez, confessed to killing Duran and said he had been planning for about a week to kill her if she didn’t reconcile with him, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit.
Police said Cruz went to Duran’s home with the shotgun and three shells under his clothing.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
